STRQ Beginnings
by TheFlyingWelshman1
Summary: Before Team RWBY there was Team STRQ, "the coolest team to graduate Beacon." This is the story of their time growing into the heroes they were known to be. My first fan fic, rated T for now.
1. Awkward Introductions

**Chapter 1: Awkward Introductions**

 _I wonder what it's gonna be like at Beacon Academy…_ Summer Rose thought to herself as the airship slowly approached the school in question. _Will there be food courts? Exercise gyms? Secret love ne-NO! Why am I even thinking that?_

Shaking the thoughts out of her head while pulling her hood further over her head to hide her blush, Summer turned her gaze to the view outside the large glass windows of the airship, marveling at the sight of the city of Vale. Having grown up in a small town further south before moving with her father to Mountain Glenn, a sizable settlement beyond the mountains of the kingdom, she has never been to the big city before now. _I can see Patch Island from up here. I hear it's a nice little place. Ooh! Is that Signal Academy? It's bigger than I thought! Why didn't I study there first? Lighthouse is so much smaller. Maybe I should try teaching there when I'm done fighting monsters. Yeah! That's-_

At that moment, a hologram of a woman appeared right in front Summer, causing her to jump back with a startled squeak. "Hello, and welcome to Beacon Academy." The woman said. "My name is Glynda Goodwitch." Having recovered from her start, Summer took a look at the woman in the hologram. She couldn't have been older than twenty five, with light blonde hair and a somewhat stern presence to her.

"You are among a privileged few who were selected to attend our prestigious academy." The woman continued, "Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and a future Huntsmen and Huntresses it will be your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and training to protect our world." The hologram then faded, leaving Summer in deep thought.

'Wow, they really make a big deal out of this. I mean, I know it's an important job and all that, but surely there can't be that few Huntsmen out in the world, right? Maybe they're just trying to scare us into working harder. Yeah, that sounds about right. No point making us feel like this is gonna be easy.'

"Seriously?! How are you getting motion sick?" Said someone from behind. Curious, Summer turned around to see what was going on. Near the windows on the other side of the room were two people, a boy and a girl, both with black hair and red eyes. Siblings? The boy was sitting on the floor of the ship, looking a little green in the face, while the girl just looked on incredulously. "It's my first time on an airship, Rae. I didn't think I'd have this problem." The boy replied, and from the sound of his voice, he was just about ready to spew. _Uh oh…_

Not wanting the room to smell like vomit, Summer quickly rushed over to the boy's aid, grabbing one of the air sickness bags just in case.

"Hey," she called, immediately getting the attention of the black-haired girl, who shot a death glare her way. "What do you want?"

"I er, well uhh, I wanted to help him." Summer said nervously, pointing at the boy.

"Well then you can help by getting lost!" The girl told her, clearly agitated. "Haven't your parents told you to stay out of—

"Raven, shut up." The boy growled, obviously not in the mood. The girl looked at him, surprised, before turning away with a huff. Taking that as a sign to go ahead, Summer stepped forward and knelt down beside him. "Okay, let's try taking deep breaths. In through the nose…" she inhaled deeply through her nose, while the boy did the same, "out through the mouth." She exhaled through her mouth, again with him following her lead. After several repeats of this, the boy's stomach settled down and his face returned to it's normal color. " Thanks, uhh, what's your name again?"

"S-Summer, Summer Rose," Summer stammered, going back to being nervous. The boy then stood up and offered his hand, which she nervously accepted.

"Name's Qrow, Qrow Branwen," the boy said, helping her to her feet before pointing at the girl. "That's my twin sister, Raven." Raven only kept her back to the two of them, not even responding.

"Is she always like this?" Summer whispered, hoping she didn't hear her.

"Nah, she's way worse most of the time," Qrow said a little too loudly with a smirk. Raven immediately whirled around to shoot daggers at both of them, and while Qrow was unaffected, Summer instantly dashed behind him while letting out a slight squeak.

"And what's THAT supposed to mean!?" She asked, her voice dripping with venom.

"It means you have the shortest temper of all time, and that if something even looked at you the wrong way you'd cut it in half." Qrow replied, his grin widening.

"That's not true!"

"Yeah, it is."

"No it isn't!"

"Yeah, it kinda is."

"Uhh, guys?" Summer asked nervously.

"What?" The twins asked, Qrow nonchalantly, Raven angrily.

"Everyone's looking at us." Raven quickly looked around and noticed that she was right; everyone in the area was staring at them. Knowing that her brother could keep arguing with her all day long, she just growled under her breath and spun on her heels.

"I'm going to see if there's any tea on this thing." She grumbled, and stormed off in a huff.

After a few seconds of silence, Summer peeked over Qrow's shoulder to make sure she was gone before stepping out from behind him. "Did you really have to make a scene like that?" She asked, "Yup," Qrow replied, "it was the only way to get her out of here. Anyway, where are you from, Summer?"

"Huh? Oh, uhh, Mountain Glenn. You?"

"Anima."

"Okay, where in Anima? It's a big continent, right?"

"Well, my family likes to travel a lot, so we never stay in one place for very long." He said with a tiny hint of nervousness. Summer picked up on this, but decided not to push any further. At that moment the intercom came online.

 _Attention students, we are now approaching the Beacon Academy docks. Please gather your belongings and prepare to disembark._

"Oh wow, that was faster than I thought. I'd better call Dad and tell him I made it." She said quickly before taking off, waving goodbye to Qrow who waved back at her. _He was nice, a bit weird though,_ she thought to herself as she took out her scroll and called her father.

 _Hello?_

"Hi Dad."

 _Summer! Did you make it to Beacon alright?_

"We're just about to land now."

 _Good. I never trusted those airships._

"Dad, I'm fine. How are things going over at Merlot Industries?"

 _Slow enough. I'm starting to make some progress with my research, but I just don't have enough specimens to work on._

"Well, let's hope it stays that way. I don't want things getting bad over there."

 _I know, sweetie. Anyway, I'd better get back to work; I'm getting close, I can feel it._

"Alright, Dad. Just don't forget to sleep, okay?"

 _Ahh, sleep is for the weak._

"Dad!"

 _Kidding,kidding. Love you, Summer._

"Love you too, dad." As she hung up, there was a juddering which told her that the ship has docked. In a hurry, she rushed to where she left her stuff, grabbed her briefcase and weapon, and made her way to the main hatch, excited about the possible adventures of Beacon Academy.


	2. Meeting a Dragon

**Chapter 2: Meeting a Dragon**

Unfortunately for Summer, she was so caught up in her daydream of grand adventure that as she ran off of the ramp, her cloak got caught under her foot. By the time she realized what was happening, she was already in the middle of an unintentional somersault. "Woah! Oof!" She grunted as she landed on her back, arms and legs splayed out. The poor student-to-be was so dazed by the spill, it was several seconds before the sound of hysterical laughter reached her ears. As she sat up and looked around, she saw at least two dozen students around her. All of them were laughing at her, except for the twins; Raven was holding her face in her hand (probably trying to keep herself from laughing) while Qrow was looking at her with a mixture of humor, pity and... guilt? Unfortunately Summer was too embarrassed to wonder about that, pulling her hood tight over her face, wishing the ground would just swallow her up.

"Did you see that? She did a double somersault!"

"Aw man, that just made my damn day!"

"What a loser, tripping over her own feet like that!" Every comment she heard only made her feel worse.

By the time most of the students left the area, she started crying softly. _Great job, Summer. Two minutes in and you've already made yourself look like an idiot._ She thought to herself glumly. "Yikes, that looked like it hurt. Need a hand?" A voice asked. Wiping her eyes, Summer looked up to see a young man with blonde hair, blue eyes and surprisingly toned muscles extending a hand to her. "Hey, I'm Taiyang."

"S-Summer," She said shyly, taking his hand and letting him hoist her to her feet. He had a strong grip. "A-Are You new here?"

"Yep, just got off the airship. Where're you from?"

"Um, Mountain Glenn, you?"

"Vacuo."

"Wait, really?"

"Really really."

"Wow," Summer never met anyone from Vacuo. Some of her friends in Mountain Glenn were from Mistral and Dr. Merlot was Atlesian, but she never knew anyone who lived further west. Taiyang smiled and walked over to where her weapon landed, picked it up and examined it. "Nice piece, what is it?"

"Huh?" Summer blinked, not understanding his slang. The blonde chuckled slightly before clarifying. "Your weapon," he said, holding it out in its folded up state. "Oh, right. Well uhh, it's a sniper rifle/greatsword hybrid with a uh, close-range battle rifle form built into it."

"Really? But it's so lightweight..."

"Well, I used a skeletal titanium receiver, the barrel shroud is made of Carbotanium-"

"Carbowhaa?"

"Carbotanium," Summer giggled. "It's a blend of carbon fiber and titanium."

"Sounds expensive."

"Well my dad's a scientist so we're not strapped for cash." She explained. "Huh," Again Taiyang smiled as he handed her weapon back to her before turning around towards the school, motioning for her to follow. Nodding her head, Summer grabbed her briefcase— fumbling with her weapon in the process— and ran to catch up with him (taking care not to trip over her cloak again).

While they were walking towards the campus, Summer decided to ask him something. "Why did you help me?"

"Hmm?" Taiyang glanced at her with a confused look on his face. "Why wouldn't I?" Summer bowed her head shyly. "Well uhh, no one else wanted to, I mean I did trip over myself and uhh..." When she looked back up at Taiyang, she noticed that he looked angry. "Yeah, and it made me feel sick. Back home in Vacuo we ALWAYS look out for each other, no matter how pointless it feels. If we can't trust each other to have our backs, then nothing'd ever get done around there." Summer blinked, not expecting people from Vacuo to be that close-knitted. _Well, Vacuo is mostly desert. If you live in an environment as rough as that, you probably would have to rely on others to survive_ "Soooo... what's your weapon?" She asked, trying to change the subject to something more comfortable. Thankfully, Taiyang got the idea and his smile returned. "Oh, just a pair of gauntlets and greaves with shotguns built into 'em. Nothing too fancy."

"Wait, gauntlets AND greaves?" She repeated. "I wanted to try something like that at first, but I'm terrible at unarmed combat."

"'Unarmed?' I have two arms!" Taiyang replied, grinning like he just told a joke. Summer just gave him a weird look and said, "Nnnnnnnno."

"No?" He blinked. "Yeah, no. Sorry, i-it just wasn't a very good joke."

"Aww man," Taiyang groaned before looking around the courtyard. "Say, uhh, did you keep track of where we were going?"

"Nnnnnoooo... I was following you." She replied, obviously confused. "Me? I've never even been to Vale before!"

"Ohh, right. Well maybe there's a map somewhere, or something." Summer suggested. _Man, this is gonna be a long year._

A couple of hours later, the two managed to find they're way to the ballroom of the academy, which was already full of students waiting for the headmaster's welcoming speech. _Wow, there are a lot more students than I thought,_ Summer thought to herself. _If this is how many they accept every year, then why aren't there more Huntsmen out there?_ As they approached the crowd of students, Summer started to get fidgety. She never liked large groups of people, and this was one of the largest she had seen in a while. "Hey, you alright Summer?" Taiyang asked, noticing her discomfort. "Yeah, I'm just not a big fan of crowds." She replied, smiling weakly. Taiyang smiled and nodded, and the two of them found a spot away from the main crowd while still giving them a view of the stage. Summer started to calm down once they were a comfortable distance away. Taiyang on the other hand, decided to head into the group to mingle with the crowd. "See you later, Summer." He said, waving as he left. Summer waved back, then looked around at the ballroom itself. It was surprisingly large, with a high ceiling and tall support pillars. The walls, ceiling and pillars all sported intricate carvings and paintings, and the floor was a smooth green marble. _How much did this place cost? I mean I know it used to be the Royal Palace and all, but-_ "Hey, Summer!" She immediately jumped with a startled squeak. Turning around, she saw Qrow walking towards her, an apologetic smile on his face. "Oh, hi Qrow." Summer replied, smiling. "Sorry I didn't help you back there at the docks," he said. "I mean I was going to, but Raven dragged me away. She really doesn't like you."

"Oh, well that's okay. I mean, I did trip over my own cloak and all..." Again, Qrow looked a little guilty, but she glossed over it. "Ahem," they both heard over the speakers. Turning toward the stage, the two saw a man with grey hair standing behind the microphone.

"Welcome, everyone." He said. "First off, I would like to congratulate each and every one of you for making it this far. You have all proven yourselves capable fighters when you passed the training exam, and I have looked over the results of each one. Many of them were merely satisfactory, but a few were exceptional. However, do not think that it will be that simple from here on out, because technically, you aren't even students yet. You all came here to become the greatest warriors you can possibly be, to hone your knowledge and acquire new skills. But I assure all of you that knowledge is pointless without the ability to choose. It is up to you, and only you, to take the first step towards your future." A murmur ran through the crowd; most of the students didn't understand what he meant. Fortunately, he continued his speech once the murmur died down. "Tomorrow morning, you will face an initiation challenge. This initiation will be far more difficult and dangerous than the exam was, possibly the most difficult task you have faced yet. If you succeed, then you will be accepted into the academy and continue your training to become Huntsmen and Huntresses. Fail, and you will be sent home to finish training elsewhere. Your entire experience here will be determined by the choices you make during the initiation, so remember to choose wisely. Good luck to you all." Once he left the stage, the blonde woman from the ship's hologram stepped forward. "You will sleep here for the night. The locker room is to the left, the cafeteria is in the northern section of the campus. Be at the cliffs by 9:00 tomorrow morning. That's all."

Summer was deep in thought as Professor Glynda Goodwitch left the stage. _So that's why there's so few Huntsmen out there, most of the students must not have made it past initiation._ "Who the hell was that guy?" Qrow asked aloud, snapping Summer out of her thoughts. "What do you mean? That was Professor Ozpin."

"Never heard of him." He said.

"Oh, come on! He won the Vytal Festival Tournament two years in a row?"

"Doesn't ring a bell."

"He was on the cover of Huntsmen Monthly for five years straight!"

"Mmmmmmnope."

"Ugh, I don't even want to talk to you anymore!" She said jokingly.

 _Ring, Ring._

 _Hello?_

"Hey Dad, it's me."

 _Oh, hey Summer. How was your first day at Beacon?_

"Well, I tripped over my own cloak, met some nice people, got lost for a couple of hours, saw one of my idols in the flesh, and now I'm sleeping in the same room as all the other first year students."

 _Wow, sounds like a hectic first day._

"Yeah well, I also learned that there's some kind of initiation tomorrow. Do you have any idea what it is?"

 _Of course I do, your mother would never shut up about it. But I also promised her I wouldn't tell you if you decided to become a Huntress._

"Awww, man!"

 _Now now Summer, it wouldn't be fair to everyone else if you knew what was going to happen, right?_

"Yeah I guess..."

 _Don't worry, honey. You'll do fine, trust me. Your as tough and stubborn as your mom was, and you'll probably go even further than she did._

"Thanks Dad. By the way, how are things going over there?"

 _Well, the Grimm attacks are on the rise, which is both good and bad. The good thing is that I have a better supply of specimens to experiment on. The bad thing is that there's now a curfew in effect. I'm 43 years old, and I have to follow a curfew!_

"Is it really getting that bad out there?"

 _Well, it's not THAT bad. The perimeter's still holding up, and the curfew's just a precaution. I don't think you have to worry about me._

"Okay, if you say so,"

 _I do. Now hurry up and get to sleep. The initiation is no joke, you're going to need all the strength you have, and that's not even talking about the way they form teams._

"Teams?"

 _Oops, spoilers. Anyway, just get a good night sleep, and you can worry about it in the morning._

"Alright, good night dad."

 _Good night, sweetie._

 ** _A/N here._**

 ** _Considering that this is my first fic, I'd like to explain a few things._** ** _Firstly, the story is primarily going to focus on Summer. I just find it easier that way. Second, the story is rated T right now, but it could turn into an M rated fic later on. Last but not least, please leave a review so I can learn where I should improve and how._**


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